Originally the creators of Kamen Rider Drive said that there would be at least one Roidmude death per episode. But as it turned out that was unrealistic, and starting with the Scooper Roidmude arc there were some episode where there were no Roidmude deaths. So sometimes my chapters get to be just a bit longer. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Kamen Rider, Yu-Gi-Oh, or Future Diary.

Stars Are Eternal Chapter 8: Smile for the Camera

At a nearby construction site, the same young man who had documented Yasuyuki's arrest was assembling his camera as he whistled "London Bridge is Falling Down". Behind him was the crumbling visage of a floating city atop a giant stone slab. This was Number 033, Chronomaly Machu Mech. However, it wouldn't be for long. It soon finished crumbling, revealing a humanoid figure with a camera lens for an eye. "Now that Camera is finished mutating," the young man said, "I can make my first major scoop. And the headline will be featuring me… Shunsuke Kusaka. I'll be a bigger headliner than Ichiko Ohya back in her days covering political scandals."

Three days later, Tomoko was looking up information online. "We've had four buildings collapse in three days." "All of them occurred in the early morning," Ryusei noted, "Before anyone had even approached the building, let alone entered it. The culprit was clearly aiming to avoid casualties." "All the sites were owned by Kaishima Construction, yes?," Kengo asked, "Maybe we're looking at someone who holds a grudge." "Kaishima was under fire a few years ago for shoddy construction work," Tomoko noted, "The story was released by famous photojournalist Ichiko Ohya."

"Maybe she became a shard bearer," Shun suggested, "Then again, there was no slowdown at any of the scenes." "Slowdown can only be affected by either Egoist or the shards it fuses to others," Jogo pointed out, "Once the shard mutates into a Stand, it loses the ability to affect slowdown. Besides, a year ago Ohya was moved to the entertainment section after her partner disappeared, and she's been in Tokyo for a while trying to get info on Madarame's business partner Mitsuhide Kinmyujiamu." "Whoever's doing this is a real expert of demolition," Kengo noted, "All the buildings collapsed in a manner that would insure they didn't cause collateral damage."

"There's something else too," Tomoko said, "A well known religious sect called the Omekata is coming to Morioh." "Isn't that the group dedicated to protecting people in need?," Miu asked. Tomoko nodded. "The group's leader, Tsubaki Kasugano, is coming in person in order to spread the message of her group to Morioh." Jogo looked concerned. "Something's off about this. Tsubaki is a known Stand user. And ever since the sudden slowdown in Tokyo instigated by Father Roche's disciples, more and more Stand users have been coming to Morioh."

Meanwhile, Tsubaki was being driven to Morioh by her closest friend and confidant, Orin Miyashiro. "Lady Tsubaki, we're almost there. We've just passed the radio tower." "It's a wonder that thing is still standing after so many years," Tsubaki noted, "Although my Cries of Avici did just pick up someone living on it." Cries of Avici was the writing scroll Tsubaki always kept with her. It was in fact her Stand, which allowed her to see through the eyes of anyone who was within her Stand's effective range, and carry her voice to those who agreed to follow her.

"How many have the others gotten?," Tsubaki asked. "I don't think anyone's gotten anything yet," Orin replied, "So far all of the shard bearers have been beaten by local Stand users." Tsubaki nodded. "Once my Stand infuses our followers, they will be able to see and attack the shards. The one who began the game assured me that any shard beaten by one of my flock will count as a win for me. And I can spread my power farther than the others." "Let's hope it's enough," Orin said, "After all, getting to use that formula to make your Stand stronger would give us the means to protect more people."

Another building collapse had been reported, with the same hallmarks as last time. "Take a look at this," Kengo said, "It looks like something sliced through part of the support beams. That explains why no explosions were heard." Nearby, Koichi spotted someone with a camera snapping the scene. "Who's that?," he asked one of the other officers. "Oh that's Shunsuke Kusaka, a visiting photojournalist," the officer said, "He came out here for a nature documentary and wound up reporting on the building collapses. Speaking of which, we did find evidence that Kaishima didn't learn their lesson. This building would have collapsed days later even if the culprit hadn't struck. And likely during a time when there were people in this building."

As Shunsuke walked out, he was stopped as five people, three men and two women, one of them an albino that looked to be blind, stood in front of him. "Number 033!," the man said, "I am Yomotsu Hirasaka. For the sake of justice… Your shard shall be shattered!" Shunsuke sighed. "Good thing it's not a shard anymore. Camera!" The figure with the camera eye appeared. Yomotsu's four friends backed up a bit, but Yomotsu didn't. "It'll be fine. Believe in the power I share with you." The five of them nodded and stepped back up.

"Ready!," Yomotsu called out. The five of them placed their hands on their ornate belts, the bucklers of which could come off. There were twin buttons on each side that, when pressed, created a surge of energy that transformed the five people into Sentai-like superheroes. Yomotsu himself was red, the two guys yellow and pink, and the two girls blue and green. Yomotsu led them in a choreographed pose. "Justice Rangers…" "Go Twelve!" Shunsuke looked confused. "But… There are five of you…" "My Stand is called that because I'm designated as Hunter Twelve," Yomotsu explained, "Now let's fight! Crimson Gauntlets!"

He suddenly donned a set of gauntlets. The others got out their own weapons. "Sapphire Blade!" "Citrine Hammer!" "Emerald Rifle!" "Rose Whip!" They immediately rushed at Shunsuke, but they never got close enough. "Evanescence!" Tomoko's Stand activated, causing a still-loose beam to break away and slam into the group. Luckily, Yomotsu's Stand gave them all superhuman durability. "It's dangerous to fight in a demolition zone," she noted. She then turned to Shunsuke. "And you… You got here rather fast. Do you know something about this?" Shunsuke shrugged. "Not yet… But I'm getting close."

Later Tomoko revealed what she had learned to the others. "The steel beams making up the foundation got compromised by having entire sections get cut out of them. The precision of the cuts is clear indication of Stand activity." "We saw that reporter Shunsuke with a Stand," Shun noted. "But we never saw what it could do," Kengo pointed out, "Yomotsu and his crew were our primary concern to avoid collateral damage." "Kusaka does seem suspicious regardless," Jogo said as he came in with a newspaper, "Check out the photo he took of the incident."

The group looked and saw it was a perfect shot of the building as it collapsed. "How did he time this shot?," Miu asked. Jogo shook his head. "No idea. But he was at the scene of each demolished building, asking questions of the building staff if there had been any signs of building wear." He sat down with the group. "Yomotsu referred to Shunsuke as Number 033. Looks like he was a shard bearer, but had the potential needed to mutate the shard into a Stand. Meaning approaching him will be tricky until we can learn what his Stand ability is."

Elsewhere, Mitsuharu and Shinzo were also reading the paper. "Shunsuke is making good use of his Stand," Mitsuharu noted. "It's a little destructive for my tastes," Shinzo said, "It already lead to him being targeted by the hunters." "So long as he keeps his discipline he should be fine," Mitsuharu assured his friend, "He promised to only bring down those buildings that were already getting close to collapsing unexpectedly. And he only does it when he knows the buildings are going to be empty. Still, if he is caught… I hope he can still make the headlines like he wanted, instead of being the headline."

Early the next morning, Shunsuke was setting up his camera as usual. "Camera!" His Stand appeared. "Gonna try and take out the building from way over here?," came Jogo's voice. Shunsuke whirled around. "So you figured me out." "I have a good idea about your Stand power," Jogo said, "You can remove physical objects from existence, yes?" "It's actually transferring non-living matter to digital film," Shunsuke clarified, "But the effect is the same. Like removing the lower blocks from a Jenga tower. Weaken it enough, and it all comes crumbling down."

"But why go so far for a scoop?," Jogo asked. Shunsuke shrugged. "Because Kaishima never learned its lesson. A few years ago me and a friend of mine where investigating rumors that Kaishima was cutting corners in its construction. Kaishima tried to put political pressure on our publishing company to get us to stop, but luckily the higher-ups knew the story would sell, and asked the politicians if they were really comfortable in buildings that could collapse at any moment. Though I will admit to some level of wounded pride, since Ohya wound up scooping me and my best friend while we were busy with the red tape."

He got a picture taken by Camera, had it touch a certain spot on the building. That same spot instantly crumbled from the actual building nearby. Jogo was shocked. "So this is how you set up those shots!" "Hard hitting facts certainly keep readers enraptured," Shunsuke said, "But what draws them in is an exciting actions shot. To truly excel in this business, you need to be equal parts dedicated and pandering! Camera!" Camera moved to touch another spot on the photo, but Jogo was quicker to act. "Activate Pen!"

A large ink pen appeared on Cosmic Mind's right leg, which it whipped around, the ink splattering on the photo and rendering it useless. "Activate Spike!" A ring of spikes appeared on the left leg, which Jogo used to smash into Camera, knocking it back a few feet. "Activate Scoop!" A large shovel appeared on the right arm, which Cosmic Mind dug into the rooftop and flung part of it off, sending Shunsuke flying down. Luckily, he was able to save himself by having Camera cling to the side of the wall, letting him slide down.

Jogo leapt off the roof himself. "Activate Parachute!" A large triple parachute, like the kind used for rockets, burst out from the left arm, letting Jogo reach the bottom easily. Shunsuke used his Stand to fire off several energy blasts, which Jogo dodged. "Activate N Magnet and S Magnet!" Cosmic Mind shifted into its bulkier form just as Camera fired a massive energy beam, which Cosmic Mind countered with a powerful rail cannon. The forces collided and exploded, sending the two Stand users flying. Shunsuke tried to get up, only for Miu to land right on his mid-section. "The Boom!" The sudden impact knocked Shunsuke out cold.

While all this was going on, Father Roche ticked off the number of shards that had gone empty on Egoist. "Ninety-six to go…," he said in delight, "A slow but sure process. Little do these hunters or the New Morioh Warriors know… Every shard that gets destroyed, or mutates into a Stand, brings my own Stand one step closer to its ultimate power." Indeed, in the spots that once held the shards that had vanished, new growths were forming like expanding muscles. "Only a few for now," Roche noted, "But I have time. And when I am done… I will have gained a power even greater than that which Enrico Pucci sought." He gave a light chuckle, which slowly expanded to full-blown laughter.

That's right folks. Father Roche wants his shards destroyed. Then again, I mentioned as much in his Stand details. Anyway, once this goes up I'll be announcing a change in my schedule on my main account page, so keep an eye out. Hope everyone's staying safe out there. In the meantime, here's the breakdown.

001 002(END) 003(END) 004 005(END) 006 007

008 009 010(END) 011 012 013 014

015 016 017 018 019 020 021

022 023(END) 024 025 026 027 028

029(END) 030 031 032 033(END) 034 035

036 037 038 039 040 041 042(END)

043 044 045 046 047 048 049

050 051 052 053 054 055 056

057 058 059 060(END) 061 062 063

064 065 066 067 068 069 070

071(END) 072 073 074(END) 075 076 077

078 079 080 081 082 083 084(END)

085 086 087 088(END) 089 090 091

092 093(END) 094 095 096 097 098

099 100 101 102 103 104 105

106 107 108

And here's the new Stands for this chapter.

Camera (Song by REM)
User: Shunsuke Kusaka
Ability: Mutated from Egoist shard Number 033, Chronomaly Machu Mech. Camera's eye can act like a regular camera, and the photos it takes can be manipulated. In addition, any non-living object can be digitized and placed onto film, removing it from reality. It can also fire energy pulses from its eye to attack if need be.
Power: B
Speed: C
Range: A
Durability: B
Precision: A
Potential: B

Cries of Avici (Cries of Avici (6), theme of Tsubaki Kasugano from Future Diary)
User: Tsubaki Kasugano
Ability: Cries of Avici can see through the eyes of any living human within a range of five kilometers. She can also write words on it, which translates to her voice to those that have sworn loyalty to her and the Omekata, and can also infuse them with Stand energy. The Stand is surprisingly frail, but luckily damage to it will not transfer to Tsubaki.
Power: E
Speed: E
Range: E
Durability: C
Precision: B
Potential: C

Justice Rangers Go Twelve (Justice Rangers GO 12th!, theme of Yomotsu Hirasaka)
User: Yomotsu Hirasaka
Ability: This Stand takes the form of an ornate belt with a detachable buckler. By hitting the twin buttons on the sides of the buckler, Yomotsu can transform into a red-colored Sentai hero with superhuman capabilities. He can also share this power with four other people, each of them having similar strength. They also each possess a unique weapon. Yomotsu's is twin gauntlets, the blue suit offers a powerful sword, the yellow one a super-strong hammer, the green one a high-powered rifle, and the pink one a thorn whip.
Power: B
Speed: A
Range: C
Durability: A
Precision: C
Potential: D

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